City sources say Alteri, another investor that specialises in buying distressed businesses, and Modella Capital, which is part of private equity house R Capital, along with an existing franchise partner of The Body Shop’s operations in Asia, are also in the running.
The Body Shop collapsed into administration in February, just three months after Aurelius struck a £207m agreement to take control.
It capped a remarkable period of decline for a business that the late entrepreneur and environmental campaigner Anita Roddick had forged into a trailblazer of fair and sustainable trading, together with her husband, Gordon.
Administrators at FRP have closed 75 of its worst-performing stores, resulting in hundreds of job losses among a workforce of around 2,200.
However, it still has roughly 100 high street shops, meaning any buyer will be taking a serious bet on the viability of a business that has struggled in recent years.
Administrators at FRP previously blamed the retailer’s woes on “an extended period of financial challenges under past owners, coinciding with a difficult trading environment for the wider retail sector”.